''Tell me, do you bleed''. Wait a second, I made that joke before when reviewing the first game on Nintendo Switch. Ahem. Well I guess there wont be any terrible or witty one liners this go around. We'll just hop straight to the review.
Bleed 2 is the sequel to the fast paced twin stick contra like style shooter, Bleed, that was released back in 2012 on Xbox Live Indies and later ported to other platforms such as PS4,PC and Nintendo Swich.
In this game you continue your adventures as the pink haired hero known as Wryn. Her last outing revolved around her wanting to become the worlds greatest hero,but in order to do that, she needed to defeat all of earth's greatest heroes along the way. Little did she know that by completing this goal and defeating all of the world's heroes,that she would open up the earth and all its inhabitants to many more threats due to the lack of heroes at the worlds disposal.
One evening as shes getting her nightly gaming in,an alert comes over the television showing an on going alien invasion that is leaving the city and the world in a total panic. The newscasters and all civilians cry out for help and ask for their savior and hero Wryn to come and save the day. But being as lazy as she is, Wryn doesnt want to help and continues on her gaming ways until the action becomes too close for comfort and forces her into action.
Game play:
Much like the first game of the series,this game focuses on pure action and constant barrages of on screen enemies that you must plow your way through in order to get to the end of each level for the inevitable boss fight. You will start the game off with a pair of dual pistols,which have infinite ammo. But as you progress through the game and further reaching the end game content,you will be able to acquire many more weapons to use that will make the game much easier than you previously found it. You will also be able to unlock more playable characters as well.
Besides getting a decent amount of weapons to choose from, you will also be able to utilize some very unique abilities with Wryn. As Wryn, as you jump and dash through the air you will be able to initiate a ''bullet time'' event which completely freezes time for a very short period. Though using this you will have to be careful as your bullet time skill runs on a meter and it will have to replenish itself over a short period of time before it is usable again.
Another technique you'll find yourself doing quite a bit is your deflection attack. With the deflection attack you'll be able to swing your samurai like purple sword at enemy projectiles and knock them directly back at your enemy. Though this usually only works against enemy projectiles that are also purple. But its still a very valuable skill needed against certain bosses you encounter in the game.
Once again harking back to the way of the first game,Bleed 2 is EXTREMELY short and I mean REALLY short. The game is 7 levels long and spans through 25 boss fights in those 7 levels. Average playthrough of the game will take you no more than an hour or less on normal difficulty. Higher difficulties,4 in total,will enable to stretch your playthroughs to over an hour or two depending on how many times you die and if you want to keep trying to get perfect scores.
While that might seem like a negative,its really a blessing in disguise. Because in the way this game is designed and played, anything longer than 1-2hrs would make the game feel extremely repetitive. The game is similar to an all out action boss rush game and should be treated and respected in that manner. Story is very basic and the focus is purely on chaotic running and gunning. Go into it with the attitude of it being a boss rush adrenaline fueled game and you will not have a problem with the games overall length.
Replayability:
For a game that is only 1-2hrs long at most, you would hope that there is more bang for your buck before throwing down some money before buying it. Well thankfully Bleed 2 offers more than just a short campaign and gives you much more to do in the game that will keep you coming back even longer afterwards.
Arcade Mode- In this mode you have to try to make it through the entire game on one life. Its a lot harder than it sounds depending on what difficulty you play on. Having to go through 7 levels and 25 boss fights without dying a single time will make your experience not only more hectic and intense but also way more annoying for anyone that likes to complete all challenges in the game 100%
Challenge Mode - In this mode you can fight up to 3 bosses at the same time to see if you have what it takes to master the controls and mechanics of this game to their fullest.
Endless mode- gaunlet of endless randomly generated levels keeps the action and high speed shooting going as long as you want it to. Just remember to not die or your fun will come to an end.
2 player co op - Sadly I wasn't able to try this as I have no real life friends who like gaming as much as me to play with. Forever alone I shall be in the sea of co op games. However, anyone who isn't as sad as me and has friends to play with will find shooting up enemies and bosses and making stuff go kabloom is way more satisfying with someone else to share in your excitement.
Conclusion:
At the end of the day,Bleed 2 is a short but fun experience with a ton of replayability to warrant a purchase. It may be lazy in the story department and use the cop out reason for warranting a sequel(oh no alien invasion), but it still doesn't stop it from keeping the core aspect of what makes this series great in the first place. Wonky energetic characters,great level designs,great music and chaotic non stop run and gun game play that will keep you coming back again and again just to get that short burst of adrenaline feel,much like the Contra games of old.
I recommend Bleed 2 to anyone that is a fan of the first game or just likes pure action based shooters at all.
Bleed 2 is out now on Playstation 4.
*Review code for Bleed 2 provided by Digerati
